Seminar (372-0-1)
Topic
The Third Eye
Instructors
Rudolf Brendan Fernandes
847/491-7346
640 Lincoln St, Evanston Campus
Meeting Info
Parkes Hall 223: Tues 1:00PM - 3:50PM
Overview of class
The Third Eye: Scoring Dance and Performance Art from the Camera Document
Dance is unique amongst the arts since, historically—and especially in the beginnings of ballet in the court of Louis the XIV—the lack of proper notation for movement meant that many historically significant ballets were lost and never performed again. There have been attempts to find an adequate language for dance and ways to re-enact performance art more generally, but with changes in technology, the camera has become the witness for history, and thus photography is currently the main way that the live act can exist again. Importantly, the camera that moves around does not function as a distanced or neutral spectator. Rather, the presence and gaze of the camera functions to disrupt and challenge the space(s) of the live act. The archival technology does not simply record the performance but takes part in it as a participant, thus changing the very nature of the performance it documents.
In this course students will investigate relationships between dance / performance art and its documentation in photography and video. We will study photography and film as they function as an indexical record of ephemeral, temporally fleeting phenomena and how this record becomes the basis for repetition and re-performance. This course focuses on the field of screendance, videodance, or dance-on-camera, working to define this hybrid genre and to understand the collaborative roles of choreographer, director, dancer, cameraman, and video editor. This course is both a practical and scholarly approach to the genre of screendance. Theoretical readings on film theory, performance art, and dance will situate famous works within their greater socio-cultural milieu as a way to investigate their impact on art practices, art spectatorship, and society. Through substantive analysis of course readings, assigned media, creative workshops, and attending live performances, students will develop the skills to analyze both theoretical arguments and works of art. Students will be asked to present on an artist who uses dance and performance in their work in an in-class presentation, write a short reflective paper, participate in movement workshops and create their own movement scores, recorded and edited on their personal media devices.
Everyone in this class will gets a chance to be behind and in front of the camera as we
move!
Class Materials (Required)
No course cost.
Class Attributes
Advanced Expression
Literature and Arts Foundational Discipline
Literature & Fine Arts Distro Area
Attendance at 1st class mandatory
Enrollment Requirements
Enrollment Requirements: Pre-Registration is reserved for ATP majors, Art History Majors, and ATP Minors Only.